“Threatening me now?” I grinned down at her. The fire in those amber eyes sent a thrill through my blood. “Not very smart when you’re caught red-handed.”
“I’m not caught anything.” Her tail whipped against my thigh. “And you’re interfering with something you don’t understand.”
“Then enlighten me.” I kept my grip firm on her hip. “What’s so special about whatever trinket they’re trading?”
“You stubborn, arrogant—” Her voice dropped to a growl, and the temperature spiked between us. “You wouldn’t leave me alone at the booth. You won’t leave me alone now. Why won’t you take the hint and?—”
Orange flames erupted from her clenched hands, catching the edge of a discarded cardboard box. The fire spread quickly, consuming the dry material.
“Shit!” I released her hip and stomped on the flames. The cardboard crackled under my boots.
“Fuck.” Rava’s eyes went wide. She shook her hands like she was trying to extinguish invisible flames.
“Who’s there?” Lydia’s voice cut through the darkness.
I heard rustling and footsteps. When I glanced back, Francis and his package had vanished. Lydia stood alone, peering into the shadows.
“Nice work.” I ground the words between my teeth, stamping out the last ember. “Real subtle.”
But Rava didn’t answer. When I turned, her expression had shifted. Those amber eyes studied me with predatory calculation, and her lips curved into a wicked smile that sent heat straight to my dick.
Her tail brushed my thigh in a deliberate caress. “Be a doll and run fast.”
Before I could process her words, crimson smoke exploded between us. The scent of brimstone filled my lungs. I stumbled back, blinking through the haze.
She was gone.
And I stood exposed, smoke curling around my feet and footsteps thundering toward me.
“Fucking hell,” I muttered, bolting in the opposite direction.
Heavy footsteps followed. I cut through an alley, vaulting over a stack of produce crates. The muscle was good—professional training in his movements. But I knew these grounds. Every weekend hauling carving supplies had taught me the layout.
I should be furious. Iwasfurious. What kind of person disappears and leaves someone else to take the fall?
But beneath the anger churned something else. Grudging respect for her audacity. Burning curiosity about what made that gem worth such risk. And underneath it all, an insistent need to know more about the woman who’d turned my night upside down.
I peered around the edge of the stall. A flash of red disappeared through the flaps of Poppy’s bakery stall. Rava. The muscle was working his way systematically down the row, andthough she’d wedged herself into a decent hiding spot, he’d find her soon enough.
Served her right. Let her deal with her own mess.
Then I spotted the knife in the man’s hand. The blade caught moonlight as he moved, and something twisted in my gut.
The muscle was three stalls away. Two. He’d round that corner in seconds, and that knife wasn’t for show.
“Dammit.” I slipped through the shadows, circling wide to approach from the opposite direction.
I reached her just as footsteps approached. Without thinking, I pulled her against me and crushed my mouth to hers.
Lightning struck my bloodstream.
Heat seared through me, a wildfire racing from my lips to every extremity. Her lips parted in surprise, and that spicy-sweet taste exploded across my tongue. I landed my hands on her waist, fingers digging into the soft curve of her hips.
Mate.The word thundered through my blood. My fated mate.
I’d watched it happen to my friends. The instant recognition. The undying certainty. But I’d never believed it would happen to me. Never wanted it to. I’d been content with my carving, my clan standing, my string of willing females who found my tusks and tattoos appealing. Until now, when everything in me recognized her as mine, as if every woman before had been practice for this moment.
She felt it too. I knew she did. Her body went rigid, then melted against mine, her hands fisting in my shirt. I braced myself on the counter, lost in her taste. Her heat burned through our clothes, making me ache to strip away layers between us.
